Canadian Bodyshops Not Converting Quickly Enough To Meet Low-VOC Deadline

At the current pace, some 2,500 collision repair businesses will not have converted to using new low-VOC paints in time for Canada’s January 2010 deadline, according to a noted industry spokesman.

The rate at which Canadian collision repair shops are converting to waterborne is becoming “extremely serious,” Patrice Marcil of DuPont Performance Coatings told attendees at the Canadian Collision Industry Forum meeting in Montreal, Que.

According to Marcil, the current industry estimate is that about 1,000 shops have completed the switch to low-VOC products. Using an estimate of 8,000 automotive refinish facilities in Canada (including shops that specialize in trucks, buses, and commercial fleets), this leaves 7,000 locations still using solvent-based coating systems.

The 14 months left until the cut-off date provide 300 working days, which means the industry target must be 23 conversions per day.

“Time is working against us. The reality is that if we don’t take the bull by the horns now, it will be difficult as the date approaches. It will be hard for paint manufacturers to provide the level of service they would like, and that service shops will expect,” warned Marcil.